-Messengers photo by Britt Kudla Audi Crooks of Bishop Garrgian cut down the net after the Bears defeated Newell-Fonda during 1A Championship on Saturday in Des Moines

Normally, Audi Crooks isn’t an emotional player.

She does her job and does it well. She doesn’t get caught up in distractions or extra attention on the court or away from it.

But on Saturday night during all the pageantry of Bishop Garrigan’s second straight girls state basketball championship, the emotions flowed through Crooks and flooded out.

After her final high school game — the best of her career — it was hard to fight back the tears at Wells Fargo Arena. Crooks was named the all-tournament captain for the second time and the MVP of the game after Garrigan’s 68-57 win over Messenger-area rival Newell-Fonda.

Crooks celebrated the title with her team and kissed the trophy in a fitting farewell to high school basketball. She kept her big smile from ear to ear, even shedding overwhelmed tears of joy.

The minute she stepped off the court and saw her aunts — Fort Dodge’s Barb Crooks and Chriss (Crooks) Rocha — Audi let her emotions flow.

“When I saw my aunts (Barb Crooks and Chriss (Crooks) Rocha), I broke down,” Crooks said. “It was just an emotional day and when I saw them, it all came out.”

Barb and Chriss are the sisters of Audi’s late father, Jimmie Crooks. Thinking of her dad was another moment Audi took with her all night.

Everyone knows the honor she bestows on her father with the tattoo on her wrist that says, “Pops” and the show that carries on his legacy. In the title game, Jimmie was Garrigan’s sixth-man.

“I prayed to him before the game,” Crooks said. “I knew that he was watching every shot.

“After every bucket I thought about him. He was right there with me.”

Crooks left everything she had on the court Saturday, rewriting the state tournament record book and leaving her final mark as an all-time great.

What she was able to do — being double- and triple-teamed at every turn, but still averaging 32 points — is remarkable. Yes, she’s 6-foot-3 and bigger than nearly everyone on the court. But Crooks’ ability to fight through pressure and still turn to the basket with bodies all around her shows both her skill and will.

Crooks also plays like a guard at times, with soft hands, strong passing ability and elite footwork. There is no doubt that her work in the gym has helped her game progress as she developed her basketball IQ.

That was never more evident than in the championship game, when Newell-Fonda’s press was relentless and causing the Golden Bears fits. Crooks countered by coming up from under the basket to receive the ball near the three-point line before feeding a teammate as she ran to the basket.

Even more special about Crooks is her character.

After breaking the state record and winning her second state championship as the MVP, I asked her how much that meant to her.

Her response? “I was happy to see the joy on my teammates’ faces.”

As a 17- or 18-year-old, I don’t know how many of us would be able to put everyone first in that situation. Crooks’ humility is what makes her stand out.

It’s not about her size or point totals. It’s her character.

That’s not an accident. Her mother — Michelle (Vitzthum) Cook — and her father raised her to work hard and do so with humility.

When I asked about her legacy as a just a basketball player, she laughed and responded, “I don’t care.”

“I want people to know how good of a person and a teammate I was.

“My character is my legacy.”

Crooks closes the door on her high school chapter as another one will begin inside Hilton Coliseum. As the top recruit in the state of Iowa and a Top-50 prospect in the nation, Crooks will take her talents to Ames and see what she can do wearing the colors of an Iowa State Cyclone.

College basketball is different at the Div. I level. There are no guarantees. If anything is certain, it’s that Crooks will put forth every effort to be the best she can be.

Will she be as dominant at the next level as she was in high school? No one knows. There are so many variables. It will be tough to bet against her, though.

We do know this: Crooks is one of the best Iowa high school players best players to ever lace them up. But it has never been about the points or rebounds.

Cracking jokes, laughing with her teammates and making memories: that is how Audi Crooks wants to always be remembered.

Chris Johnson is Assistant Sports Editor at The Messenger. Contact him via email at cjohnson@messengernews.net, or on Twitter at @ChrisJohnson_17.